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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27465301">The kwami is out of the bag</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/plikki/pseuds/plikki'>plikki</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Identity Reveal, Plagg and his chaos, marinette to the rescue</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:14:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,116</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27465301</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/plikki/pseuds/plikki</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Marinette sees none other than Plagg tumble out of Adrien's shirt in front of the whole class, she just acts. She has to protect her partner after all, even if this means she has to pretend that Plagg is a real cat.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>478</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Miraculous Fanworks Anniversary 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The kwami is out of the bag</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Callmedale/gifts">Callmedale</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy anniversary! You wanted Adrien pretending that Plagg is a cat and Marinette playing along. I hope you like where this leads!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It all happened completely unexpected. One moment they were talking animatedly about their chemistry project and the next a small black fur ball tumbled out of Adrien’s shirt. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Marinette tried to hide her gasp because it took her not more than a second to recognise Plagg and for the thought to register in her mind - there could be only one reason why the cat kwami was with Adrien.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She didn’t have time to freak out, because she could see almost the whole class staring at the small creature. She knew how familiar many of them were with kwamis. They didn’t have Miraculouses permanently but surely they could make the connection.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s just my cat,” Adrien barely had time to mumble, obviously still in shock and unable to act, while she jumped next to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Meow?” Plagg said, in a poor attempt to help, but this only made her want to laugh. It was a good thing Alya was talking on her phone and not paying attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A very rare breed, right? I read about them,” she explained, while hurriedly scooping the kwami in Adrien’s school bag. He was looking at her wide-eyed, but she just smiled brightly. “They get cold easily, so we should keep it warm.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“A cat, dude? Since when?” Nino asked curiously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was looking on the internet and I’ve always wanted a pet but never could have one and I saw this ad and.. “ Adrien laughed awkwardly. “That’s the problem with having too much money to spend, you don’t think about it until too late. In this case until I have to show it to my dad.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He really should work on his lying skills, Marinette thought. She was amazed that she hadn’t seen the cracks in his excuses before. It was all glaringly obvious now - Nino always complained about him disappearing during akuma attacks, Marinette herself had seen him countless of times close to where akumas struck and then Chat appeared out of nowhere. It was probably because she was too often trying to come up with her own lies that she hadn’t seen through his. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And of course she’d been so adamant that Adrien and Chat didn’t look the same, the way Alya had so helpfully told her. She’d been so blind. There he was, her superhero partner, trying to cover up his own mistake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can I see it?” Rose asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um no, it shouldn’t be disturbed,” Marinette said hastily, praying that none of them decided to press the matter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thankfully, class started and everyone kept quiet about the pet in Adrien’s bag. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can leave the cat at home, my parents won’t mind,” she told him when they finished for the day. It would give her an excuse to talk to him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She could see him panic, looking for a way out of this. But she didn’t wait for him to respond, she walked ahead and he had to catch up with her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m really grateful to you for offering to cover for me, Marinette, but I don’t want to get you into trouble. I messed up and I have to deal with this on my own,” he said with a frown. It was good that he admitted that. At least he didn’t really have a cat to hide from his father. But it was too late for her already knowing the truth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Tell me, how will you call it?” she asked, playing along for a moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Um. Plagg?” he suggested, as if this was the only name he could think of and she couldn’t stop herself from laughing. He looked at her strangely and she glanced around surreptitiously before leaning in, saying for his ears only.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There was never a chance I’d believe the lies, kitty, but couldn’t you think of a different name at least?” She said, giggling. He gasped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I knew it!” He exclaimed and it was her turn to be surprised. “I’ve suspected you before. And just now, you acted so quickly back in the classroom.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But you still kept lying?” She asked suspiciously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Isn’t this what you would have expected of me, m’lady?” he noted with the familiar grin that warmed up her heart.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Touche. Let’s just hope I was the only one who thought your cat looked suspiciously like a kwami.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shoot. I didn’t even think about how many of them have actually seen one. It’s great that you were there.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s what partners are for, right?” She shot back with a wink. It was surprising how easily she slipped into her normal behaviour around Chat. Him being Adrien surely registered somewhere in the back of her mind, but the stressful situation had cured her of any embarrassment she felt around him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ladybug to the rescue,” Plagg called out, suddenly appearing between them. Marinette looked around, but they were alone on the street.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is it any use scolding you for causing trouble again?” she inquired, sighing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry, it wasn’t intentional?” the kwami cautioned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He always says that,” Tikki piped in, joining them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ok, will you two go hide until we are safely home, I don’t want to explain the existence of two exotic cats.” Marinette shooed them with a smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Has anything like this happened to you before?” Adrien asked curiously after the exchange.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Unfortunately, yes,” she replied, making a face. “One time Chloe actually stole Tikki, but it was before she’d met Pollen so she didn’t make the connection. We are careful, but it happens sometimes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And now the cat’s out of the bag,” he declared with a grin. She groaned. That was going to be her life from now on.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait till she tells you her other dark secret,” Tikki called out from her purse and Marinette felt her face grow warm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is she talking about?” Adrien asked with a raised eyebrow. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ll talk about this some other time,” she said, suddenly feeling shy again. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought this would mean no more secrets between us,” he said dejectedly and she felt her heart ache for him. He was right, they didn’t need any secrets and well, he’d find out sooner or later.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, let me tell you what happened to me today,” she practically sang, hooking her arm around his and dragging him toward her home. “My crush pretended to have a cat and I had to rescue him,” she added. This time his gasp was a lot more dramatic and she laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No way!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you,” Tikki giggled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“When can I kiss you?” he asked in her ear, true to form, and she shivered all over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“At least wait until we get home,” she giggled. To think that she had to thank the kwamis for that, pfft! </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The <a href="https://discord.gg/mlfanworks"> Miraculous Fanworks Discord</a> is already one year old! Come join us and become part of our big family!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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